Trunk.



No. 685,284. Patented 0c t. 29, 19m.

- J. LDNGSHDRE, 18.

TRUNK {Application fi led Dec. 19, 1900.

2 shee'tsrfsheet I.

(No Model.)

Witmeooo'o No. 685,284. Patented Oct. 29, I901.

J.:LONGSHOHE,; m.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES'LONGSHORE, Ja, or SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 885,284, dated October 29, 1901. Application filed December 19, 1900. Serial No. 40,388 (ll'o model.)

To aZZ whom, it ntay concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES LONGSHORE, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to trunks in'gen oral,

and more particularly to the class of bureautrunks wherein when the trunk is opened there is exhibited a stepped arrangement of receptacles, including drawers and cupboards or closets having hinged doors. As these trunks have been heretofore made the arrangement of the compartments having the hinged closures and the sliding drawers have had no definite relation other than 'that'of convenience of access. In the present construction, however, it will be noted that the drawers are so disposed that when drawn out they have a ledge to rest upon, thus permit-. ting them to be drawn out farther than when there is no ledge and yet permit of them being supported in open positions. Further? more, as heretofore constructed. there has been a liability of the drawers to open when the trunk is opened, whereas such'action can'- not occur in the present construction, for the reason that all of the drawers are disposedin the lower or body portion. A further point in the present construction is the correlative arrangement of the drawers and doors, whereby when the trunk is closed the front faces of the drawers lie against continuous boards extending from one end of theftrunk' to the other, and thus the drawers are held from disdoor is prevented.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the complete trunk, the drawers thereof be ing partly drawn out and the lids or doors of some of the closets being open slightly. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the trunk in its open position, this section being taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section in the same plane as Fig. 2 and showing the trunk in closed position. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a portion of the body of the trunk, with the support for the lid in its open position.

- Referring now to the drawings, the present trunk consists of a' body portion 5, the front and upper sides of which are cut away to form t The upper face of the first step 8 is formed by a hinged lid 9, provided with a latch 10, and which when lifted discloses a compartment 11, behind which is a compartment 11,

which runs back into the body to the back wall thereof. The upper face of the second step 7 is formed by'a rigidlysecured board 12, disposed transversely of the front of the body or running-longitudinally of the body. Strips 13 are secured to the inner faces of the ends of the body for their upper faces to lie flush with the lid 9,'and on these strips is slidably disposed a drawer 14, which when pushed in lies with its front flush with the front edge of the board 12 and when drawn outwardly is adapted to rest'upon the upper face of the step 8- -that is,1on the lid 9. Thus the drawer is braced, so that it may be pulled almost entheirupper faces lie in the plane of the up per face of the board 12, and these strips 14 receive a second drawer '15, which when pushed in lies with its front flush with the front edge of the top 16 of the body of the trunk and when drawn outwardly is adapted to reston the board, the eifect being the same as with the drawer just described.

The drawer 14 is a double drawer. The

lower portion or main body of the drawer extends from one end of the trunk to the other, while the upper portion extends from one end of the trunk to a point midway of its ends, the remaining part of the upper portion being taken up by a supplemental drawer 17, which rests upon the front, back, and on strips 18, connecting the front and back. This supplemental drawer may be opened and closed independently of the main drawer.

The upper or lid portion of the trunk is hinged to the body thereof and consists of two steps 19 and 20. The upper face of the step 19 is formed by a lid 21, opening into a closet 22, running to the back of the lid, while the upper half of the front of the second step is likewise a closure for a second closet 24, which takes up the remainder of the lid. The fronts of both of the steps and 20, it will be seen, consist of boards running from one end to the other of the trunk, and upon reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings it will be noted that when the top of the trunk is closed down the front of the step 19 is against the upper drawer of the body, while the front of the step 20 is against the lower double drawer, thus preventing all of the drawers from sliding from place and pounding when the trunk is rolled. Furthermore, the top of the step 19 is held closed by resting on the board 12, while the lid 9 is held closed by the top of step 20 resting thereon. The lids and drawers are thus held firmly closed when the trunk is shut. It will be further noted that the lid of the trunk does not contain any drawers, so that as the lid is raised and lowered to open and close the trunk there is no tendency for a drawer to slide open, and the closets have their lids extending only part way thereacross, so that there may not be such pressure thereon as would open the doors or lids.

The hinges used give a long swinging and bodily movement to the top or lid of the trunk, and to prevent strain on the hinges when the lid or top is raiseda rest for the lid or top may be provided. This rest may consist of a plate 31, set flush in the rear portion of the upper surface of the body 5 and having a recess therein. A supplemental plate 32 is hinged to fold into the recess and has a rubber stud 33 on its lower face. When this supplemental plate is swung from the recess and lies in an inverted position on the upper face of the body 5, the stud projects upwardly for the cover or lid to rest thereon. When the supplemental plate is not in use, it folds into the recess.

What is claimed is 1. A trunk comprising a body portion having its front stepped, the front faces of the upper steps having drawers therein and having their upper faces fixed and unbroken, and a lid hinged to the body portion and having its face stepped to mesh with the steps of the body portion, the steps of the lid having one a lid in its vertical face to rest against a drawer of the body and the other a lid in its horizontal face to rest upon the upper, unbroken face of a step of the body.

2. A trunk comprising a body portion having its front stepped, the upper steps having drawers in their front faces and the upper faces of the steps being arranged to form supports for the drawers in the front faces of the steps thereabove, one of the drawers having a drawer in its upper portion for movement outwardly therewith and movable also with respect thereto to expose the drawer by which it is carried when the latter is drawn outwardly, and a lid hinged to the body portion and having its face stepped to mesh with the steps of the body, one of the steps of the lid having a lid in its front face to rest upon the said drawer and the drawer carried thereby when the trunk-lid is closed, and the other step of the trunk-lid having a lid in its upper face to rest upon the upper face of a step of the body.

3. A trunk comprising a body portion and a lid portion hinged thereto and adapted to rest upon the body portion when in open position, said lid having closets therein, and a rest to sustain the rear portion of the lid when in open position, said rest including a plate set flush in the top of the body and having a recess therein, and a supplemental plate hinged to the first plate to fold into the recess thereof and having a stud on its inner face to project upwardly and sustain the lid when the plate is in unfolded position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto sign my name, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 1st day of December, 1900.

JAMES LONGSHORE, JR.

Witnesses:

JOHN J. BAUER, WM. S. HOWE. 

